Questions from the Passion

Sunday, March 7, 2004

Rev. Ronald Burcham

Typed from audio transcript

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

It's one of the most politically incorrect things Jesus has ever said. And certainly, He said a lot of things during His ministry that kind of rankled people a little bit, went against the grain of society. Jesus said certain things like, "Pray for your enemies." He said, "Turn the other cheek." He said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." But the thing that really got them, the thing that was just so outlandish that He said was, "I am the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Me."

Was Jesus really saying that the only way, the only access we have to God is through Him? The only way we can have salvation, the only way we can enjoy heaven is through Him? Doesn't that seem a bit arrogant? Doesn't that seem a little narrow-minded, even snobbish a little bit to say that He's cornered the market? And we as Christians, who say we believe that, are we not intolerant of other beliefs? Aren't we being a little bit narrow?minded in saying that? It's an important question. Is Jesus the only way to God?

I would trust and believe that everyone here would say, "Yes, Jesus is the only way." And I would further say that it is not out of arrogance that we say it, it's not out of narrow?mindedness that we say it, but out of great compassion and love and concern for our fellow human beings. Why is it then that Christians can say Jesus is the only way to God, Jesus is the only way to heaven? There are three reasons that we, as Christians, can say that and, because of those three reasons, we can stand behind the statement, "Jesus is the only way to God."

The first thing we need to recognize is that Christianity is different. Christianity is different from every other religion in the world. Now that goes against a myth. There's a myth in the world that says all religions really are basically the same. Oh, they take on a different face. Maybe they have different rituals they go through, they have different traditions, but when you peel it all away, you finally get down to it that all religions basically are the same. They're all heading in the same direction. They all want to accomplish the same thing. In fact, you've probably heard it said, maybe you've even said it, "Well, you know, what's really important is that a person is very committed. They're very devoted to their way of thinking, their religion, and they very much practice what they preach. And as long as that's true, we're all sort of going in the same direction.

Now while it's true that all religions in the world do share some things in common, there is a common thread, common morals that are there in every religion, there are some common convictions there. In fact, there is something else that's common that actually becomes the point where we find the distinction of Christianity. You see, all religions believe that we're not perfect people. Now that resonates with us, right? Whether we want to admit it or not, we know we're not perfect. We know that we don't do things all the time that are correct, whether it's something we do, whether it's something we say, or maybe it's even a thought that goes through our mind, I think all of us can be on the same page with this one and all religions are on the same page with this one and that is we are not perfect people, we do things which are wrong. Now what you call it, now that depends on which religion. Maybe you would call it sin if you were a Christian. Maybe you'd call it bad karma if you were somebody else, but everyone realizes that none of us are perfect and all of us do something wrong.

And all religions will acknowledge the fact that something has to happen because of that. There has to be some sort of payment. There has to be some sort of penalty. You have to somehow make up for the bad things you do. And here's where Christianity distinguishes itself from every other religion. Every other religion says that you have to do something, that it's up to you, the ball's in your court. And it lays out for you the things you have to do. Maybe you have to say a special prayer at certain times during the day, but you better do it. Or maybe it's the fact that you have to take a pilgrimage and somehow that pilgrimage will work some of that stuff out of you. Maybe it's the fact that you have to be reincarnated several times until you finally get it right, but somehow it's all up to you, the ball is in your court, you have to do something about the fact that you're not perfect and that everything you do isn't good.

This is where Christianity distinguishes itself, because Christianity says it's not what you do but it's what's already been done for you. It's already what Jesus has done for you. You see, the claims of Jesus go against all the rest of the claims and the rest of the world religions. Because Jesus says, "Yes, all of you fall short of what God's expectations are." But then Jesus goes on to say, "And there's nothing you can do about it." No matter how hard you may try, no matter how many good things you might do, you're never going to tip the scales over so you have more on the good side than you have on the bad side because you can never get rid of the stuff on the bad side. Jesus says, "There's not a thing you can do about that." And then He says, "That's why I came to do it all for you." Jesus says that's why He came into the world so we could look to Him and all that He's done.

The distinguishing thing about Christianity is that, although we don't deserve it and although we don't do anything to earn it, God simply gives us salvation. God simply forgives us, and that goes against everything else. It can be seen maybe most clearly in a story that Jesus told, which has a similar story that's found in Buddhist writings. It's the story of the prodigal son. Both stories start out with a son who is rebellious against his father and a son who decides to go off and leave home and to live life on his own. Both stories have the son realizing at a certain point in time that this isn't working out and he has remorse, so he turns back because he wants to reconcile with his family. But it's at this point where the stories go very, very differently. In the Buddhist writing, what happens is the son comes back. He is greeted by his family, and then he is forced into several years of servant hood to pay for his past deeds. When Jesus paints that analogy, He says that as the son is coming down the road, the father throws open the door, runs out and embraces him, and brings him into the house. The son is a recipient of unconditional love. He is a recipient of grace and favor from the father. Christianity is different. Christianity doesn't tell you what you have to do. Christianity tells you what's already been done for you.

Christianity is reality. What I'm saying is what Christians say is true, and it's real. It's not just another way of thinking. It's not just a philosophical way of thought. You see, there's another myth that says, okay, maybe all religions are not the same but they're on equal standing. In other words, all religions are really equal, and they have an equal claim to the truth and what you really need to do is you need to find the one that is true for you. Because what you consider true might not be what I consider true. And so you have to look at all the religions of the world and whichever one you resonate with, that's the truth for you but far be it for me to judge you and to say that your truth is somehow invalid and my truth is better. Now this really resonates with our culture today. In fact, in our society today what we find out is that people are picking and choosing from all the religions of the world. So they may take a little bit from the Buddhist. They may take a little bit of Hinduism, and they may take a little bit of Christianity and they wrap it all together and they have a custom-made religion just for them. And they can agree with everything that's there, and that's their philosophy. That's their way of thinking.

In one sense, our country is even more open to that because of the freedoms we enjoy. You know, it says in the Constitution that no matter what religious belief you have, you have equal protection. So every religious belief has equal protection in our country. Somehow, though, we've convinced ourselves if they are equally protected, then they're equally true.

Mike Rocco, columnist, wrote an article several years back. And he sort of picked up on that. He described it this way. He says, "I want you all to know that I belong to the new church of Asylumism. It's a brand new church." And he wanted to tell his readers the tenants of this faith. He says, "Well, the tenants of this faith are we have our origin back millions of years ago in a galaxy far, far away on a distant planet, there was an advanced civilization there and this advanced civilization was going along fine until a group of about 300 of them were gathered at a party. And wouldn't you know it, they all ate some tainted veggie dip. Who would think? Tainted veggie dip scrambled their minds. And so they were running around, just a bunch of nuts. So they tried everything to try to cure them and they couldn't, so they decided as a society that what they would do was find an uninhabited planet and they would use that as an asylum and they would put all of the kooks there and let them run around and just have a good time and they wouldn't have to worry about it." He says, "That planet was earth, and all of us are descendants of that." He offered as proof the newspapers, history, television. He says, "Look around. You tell me if this isn't a loony bin." But the point is, in our country, you could start that church and you would be equally protected as any other church. But that doesn't mean that it's equally true.

Christianity isn't just another philosophy, just another way of thinking. Christianity is reality, and it's reality because of Jesus Christ and the claims He made. Jesus set Christianity on a whole other level when Jesus said that He was the Son of God. And not only did He say He was the Son of God, but He backed up those claims. We looked at those last week. Jesus backed up the claim that He was the Son of God for the sheer fact of the hundreds of prophesies that came to fulfillment in Jesus, the fact of all the miracles that Jesus performed and nobody could refute those miracles, the fact that Jesus was dead and in the grave for three days and yet He walked out and showed Himself alive to hundreds of people at a time. Jesus not only claims to be the Son of God. He is the Son of God, and that's what sets Christianity on a whole other level from every religion because no other religion claims that.

So Christianity isn't just some philosophy. Christianity is reality, and Christianity is the most compassionate of any religion. We're accused of exactly the opposite.

The third myth in our world is this: The myth that Christians are closed-minded, narrow?minded, arrogant, and snobbish when they say Jesus is the only way to heaven. Now that statement would be true if, indeed, we as Christians believed there were several paths that led to the same place. That would be rather arrogant of us to say that our path is the best path or the only path. But the fact is there are not several paths that lead to the same place. There is only one path. And if you believe there is only one path, that's not narrow-minded. That's compassionate because you want everybody on the same path.

Every religion believes we suffer from sin, no matter what they call it. Every religion believes you have to make up for that sin, that there has to be some punishment or some payment for that. There is only one who could make the payment. There is only one person who could take our place, because that person has to be sinless. You see, no matter how much I might like you, I can't take your place because I have my own sin to deal with. No matter how much you might care for your husband, you can't take his place because you have your own sin to deal with. No human being can do anything for another human being when it comes to our relationship with God. Nobody can take somebody else's place and take on their punishment for sin, because they have their own sin to deal with. In fact, we can't even do anything about ourselves because of this sin we have to deal with. Only the sinless Son of God could do anything for us. Only God coming into our world, taking on flesh and blood, and only God could remain perfect and holy throughout His whole life, and only God could step in and take our place. Only Jesus could be nailed to that cross, not for punishment for Him, for punishment for each and every one of us. It's the only way. That's not narrow-minded. That's compassionate and loving.

Maybe you can think of it this way. I don't want to say often times, but sometimes when babies are born, they end up being a little jaundice, that is, they're all yellow and the whites of their eyes are kind of yellow. And the doctor always has one solution to that. You put them under a special lamp, and all of a sudden the jaundice is gone. It happened to Madison, our 5-year-old. I know this happens. Now imagine this scene. The doctor comes in to the newborn parents and explains to them, "I'm afraid to tell you that your daughter is a little bit jaundice. Don't worry about it. If it goes too far, it could be bad. But right now all we have to do is put her underneath this little lamp and everything's going to be okay. Everything's going to be fine." Now could you imagine the parents saying, "You know, Doc, that sounds awfully simple. I don't know. Do you really think that will work? I think we should try something else. What do you say you bring her in here and we scrub her on down and see if we can't get some of that yellowness off her? What if we just sort of dip her in a little bit of bleach? That whitens things up. Maybe that would help. Maybe that would make things all better." The doctor is shaking his head, getting a little bit worried. He said, "No, no, no. You don't understand. This is the only thing that's going to work. The only thing that's going to take care of this is to take your daughter and put her underneath this lamp, and it's not going to take that long. It will take care of the jaundice." Now could you imagine any parent looking at the doctor and saying, "Well, my, isn't that narrow-minded of you? Seems awfully judgmental to think that there's only one way this can happen." "No, because there is only one cure even if it is simple."

My friends, there's only one cure and it is simple. In fact, it's so simple that maybe that's why we, as human beings, have a hard time accepting it. There's only one solution for the problem we have, and it's Jesus Christ. It's His death and resurrection. It sounds simple because it is, because God comes to us with His unconditional love and He puts no stipulations on it. He doesn't demand that you have to do this, this, and this and then He'll forgive you. He just says, "I forgive you." He doesn't say, "Well, as long as you're lovable, well then I'll love you." He says, "I love you unconditionally. It doesn't matter what you're like."

There's only one cure, and that's Jesus. It's not narrow-minded. It's the greatest example of love that you'll ever know. When Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," it is not an arrogant, narrow-minded man talking. It is a compassionate, all-loving God reaching out to every human being. Amen.

Copyright 2004 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church